Sparks flew. A white-hot pain shot up Qiu Yunru's arm and into his shoulder. Like a banana peel, it went limp.
Ah, fuck! Why?
He had done a really stupid thing just now. He had actually jumped in front of Yan Wenqing's Mo blade!
To be truthful, it really wasn't out of heroism.
As Yan Wenqing charged towards Lei Ruolan, Qiu Yunru could tell that, even though he would likely get injured when blocking a strike from that massive blade with his thin sword, none of the injuried would be fatal or severe. Now, if he had to block two strikes, that would be a different story...
What's more, Qiu Yunru had always been someone who felt guilt easily. When he felt shame and guilt, those emotions were heavy to him and oppressive, making him feel uncomfortable every time he thought back to those moments. Thus, he thought in that moment:
He's actually going to kill her! He's insane! What should I do? If I stand here and watch, she'll die, and I'll have her blood on my hands for a thousand years! Fuck!
And so, to save his own ego, he jumped in front of Lei Ruolan and blocked the killing blow.
His arm fell limply to the ground, and his sword clattered away uselessly. It seemed he had underestimated Yan Wenqing's strength--he had thought that, at most, he might fracture something in his wrist. No--his arm had been fully dislocated!
Yan Wenqing's expression was both horrified and furious. His thick eyebrows twitched with rage.
"You!" He roared, stabbing a finger at Qiu Yunru. "Why would you do that? I could have killed you!"
"You were going to kill my shijie..." Qiu Yunru said awkwardly, holding his useless arm. "What was I supposed to do...?"
"Step aside!" Yan Wenqing commanded, hefting his blade up once again. "Let me do it! As Yan Wenqing, son of Yan Zhong and Jiang Ju, can't let my mother's honor go unrestored this night!"
"Yan-qianbei, let's talk about this..."
"What a fucking oaf," Lei Ruolan sneered. Her voice was lilting and wobbly again--it seemed that she still hadn't fully recovered from her earlier blood loss. "What kind of morals are those? 'I'll kill this person, but not that person'. 'Since I hurt someone, I'll stop for a second and start yelling.' Suck it up! If you're going to be violent, just be violent!"
What the--what are you saying?!
Qiu Yunru wanted to smash his head into a tree and then shake some sense into Lei Ruolan.
However, at the sound of Lei Ruolan's taunt, Yan Wenqing's expression became hateful again, and he pointed his Mo blade at Qiu Yunru once more. "Step aside, you, or I'll hurt you!"
"Wouldn't that be dishonorable...?" Qiu Yunru tried weakly, waving his hands. "You'd be killing an innocent person..."
"Don't listen to him!" Lei Ruolan snapped. "Every time you stop to listen, you look more stupid! Come on! Get your shit together!"
"Shijie!" Qiu Yunru begged. Had she lost her mind? Was she okay with both of them going down together? Every word she spoke only made things one thousand times worse! His mind raced for a solution.
However, it was too late. Lei Ruolan's words were like a fire sparking the explosive rage within Yan Wenqing.
"Get out of the way!" He roared. Using his arm as thick as a tree trunk, he swung his great Mo blade with killing intend, intending to slice off Lei Ruolan's head.
Qiu Yunru braced himself hopelessly. He wanted nothing more than to beat his chest and weep while lighting a castle full of candles for himself! If he tried to block another blow, he'd probably have both his kneecaps crushed by the impact. But what choice did he have, when that blade was coming down right on his head? It was that, or instant death!
CLANG!
The impact of Mo blade on sword rang out over the clearing. The power of Yan Wenqing's blow was so incredible that a blast of air actually shot out in every direction, ruffling the treetops and causing the air to whistle in Qiu Yunru's ears.
Qiu Yunru waited for the pain to burst out in his knees. His one working arm was raised, holding up his sword.
Sensing something strange, he opened his eyes.
Standing in front of him was none other than Li Chenyuan, that stupid kid. His whole body was trembling as he blocked the Mo blade with his sword, sweat pouring down his neck.
"Li-shidi!" Qiu Yunru yelped. He almost said, What are you doing?, but quickly thought better of it. Wasn't it obvious? He had just risked his life to save him!
When Li Chenyuan looked back at him, Qiu Yunru jumped a little, and a shiver shot down his spine.
Li Chenyuan's face was wet with tears!
Meanwhile, Yan Wenqing had only been further enraged by this continued interruption. He swung his blade back, pointed a large finger at Li Chenyuan now and shouting: "You! It's you again! You dare come back here piece of shit? I should just kill you both at the same time! Pah!"
Seeing that Yan Wenqing was preparing to make another earth-shattering blow, Qiu Yunru opened his mouth to call something out--what, he wasn't quite sure, but it certainly seemed this NPC was the kind to be easily distracted by words. However, before he could, Lei Ruolan spoke:
"I'll fight you myself," She snarled, drawing her sword with her one working arm. Blood continued to soak through that shoulder, wetting the entire right half of her uniform.
"Lei-shijie!" Qiu Yunru groaned, moving forward to stop her. He found himself unable to. Li Chenyuan had grabbed his sleeve and tugged him backward, refusing to let go! "Li-shidi! What are you--? Why is everyone being so difficult?!"
"Let her fight if she wants to," Li Chenyuan muttered. His eyes that shone with tears were also fierce and desperate. "You're not responsible for her. Gege, do you hate me now? Because of what I said earlier?"
Qiu Yunru thought he was going to burst into a ball of confetti any second now. If he was in a manga, that panel would surely depict him as a shocked block of a person with his mouth gaping open in a square.
THIS WAS REALLY NOT THE TIME!
Although, it seemed Li Chenyuan had never had a sense of when it was time for this or that. Hadn't he asked if Qiu Yunru would take him as a lover seconds before the competition?!